Why 5×5 Workouts Don’t Build Maximum Muscle

[tarmyg]

Hi guys,

Got this in my email from Mark McManus today. Does anyone have any opinions around it?

Why 5×5 Workouts Don’t Build Maximum Muscle

Thanks
~T

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Follow my personal story here on this blog: An honest journey
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[Brett N]

Opinions around it?

5x5 programs are powerlifting programs using compound lifts meant for beginner to intermediate lifters. Nothing else. They are made to give you all around strength. Rippetoe and Mehdi from starting strength and Stronglifts never say that their programs will get you big. They are not intended for bodybuilding and will never fit that need.

They will get you strong until you plateau with them, which you will. I did. I could no longer make gains. They got my squat up to a 315x7 one set, deadlift up to 390x5 one set, and bench up to 220x5 one set. I could never do 5x5 on these. I then switched to a different workout which until I quit making strength gains I will do. That is Wendler's 5/3/1 workout. Once you reach the so called intermediate level, which is different for everyone, you have many,many different programs to choose from. I just prefer the powerlifting over bodybuilding workouts but that's just me.

5x5 IMO is the best workout there is for a beginner to make maximum gains while learning how to perfect their form.

[JoeC6Z51]

I have been lifting off and on for over 10 years. 3 years ago I got real serious about it. I was doing all those workouts in the "Muscle and Fiction" and "Flex (Fiction)" magazines. I tried all the workouts. Now don't get me wrong, they are good workouts, but here is the main problem with the workouts in all those magazines that the bodybuilders do..... They are professional body builders, we are not! You see, those guys have tons of sponsors that shower them with all their supplements and nutrition. They more than likely get their AAS free too. They do this for a living. They eat, sleep, breathe, and live "gym" and "food." For me to get like these guys would cost me a fortune, and I am not willing to do that. Once I realized that, I changed my attitude.

1. I am not a Professional Bodybuilder.
2. I don't want to be a professional Body Builder.
3. I will never be a professional Body Builder.
4. I am not a professional Body Builder!

I came across Mehdi's Stronglifts 5x5 program and I ABSOLUTY LOVE IT! I have been doing it for about 5 months and I am lifting more now that I ever have. Plus, since I'm not a professional body builder, I have a JOB, and the 3 times a week is great for my extremely busy schedule. When It comes to size gains, that has nothing to do with the type of workout you do, it has to do with how you do it, and your diet! I have put on more size with the 5x5 program (natural) than I did with a body builders mass program and 2 cycles of H-Drol. Getting ready to add an AAS cycle. Besides, Strength is way better!

[JoeC6Z51]

Opinions around it?

5x5 programs are powerlifting programs using compound lifts meant for beginner to intermediate lifters. Nothing else. They are made to give you all around strength. Rippetoe and Mehdi from starting strength and Stronglifts never say that their programs will get you big. They are not intended for bodybuilding and will never fit that need.

They will get you strong until you plateau with them, which you will. I did. I could no longer make gains. They got my squat up to a 315x7 one set, deadlift up to 390x5 one set, and bench up to 220x5 one set. I could never do 5x5 on these. I then switched to a different workout which until I quit making strength gains I will do. That is Wendler's 5/3/1 workout. Once you reach the so called intermediate level, which is different for everyone, you have many,many different programs to choose from. I just prefer the powerlifting over bodybuilding workouts but that's just me.

5x5 IMO is the best workout there is for a beginner to make maximum gains while learning how to perfect their form.

Plateau's are a given with any program. It's called muscle memory. Your muscles will get bored with the same routine over a period of time. The time varies form person to person. The key is once you think you have hit a plateau, try and push through it with the same workout. I hit a plateau with Overhead Press at 155lbs. I couldn't get to 160. After 3 workouts at 155, I decided to drop back to 140lbs and start over. When I hit 160lbs, I got all 5 sets of 5 reps no problem. Sometimes you have to back up a bit. My plateau, I believe, was due to bad form. Backing up helped me better my form and push through 160.

[JoeC6Z51]

Oh, and not to knock Mark McManus. I'm sure he is much smarter that you and me on fitness and nutrition, but anyone who has their own program (T.H.T for McManus) will knock all the others out there.

[Docd187123]

I think the article is primarily bullshit with a hefty amount of shilling for his own article. Typical internet marketer/salesman.

[rocco-x]

i've tried the 5x5 with some decent gains but nothing got me as big and as fast as a solid GVT routine.it seems at first the lighter weight won't do much and only doing 1-2 movements per bodypart feels like something's missing but it put more size on me in less than 2 months than other programs did in 5-6 months,including an old favorite of mine,max-ot...

[diabeticknowledge]

5x5 isnt a program, its a phase. training cycles consist of phases, anyone claiming 3x3 or 5x5... is the best, is an idiot.
what does a program need to consist of? For strength/power: muscle recruitment, strengthening the neurological system, tearing muscle, and again tearing the muscle.
a program would consist of volume training, strength phase and preferably a power phase if the goal is to achieve the highest possible maximum lift. And again i remind you, this is a training cycle, it is repeated so you do not hit a plateau. new muscle recruitment is crucial for continious improvements. if you have reached your desired weight or you are competing in weight classes then you have the rest of eternity (perhaps 35 if you are an actual athlete) to rotate power and strength phases, ripping every weak muscle fibre in your body until you are the best you can be.

a weightlifter will spend many years in the same category, always getting stronger kilo for kilo as long as training allows. on the professional level: the more sophisticated the drug use is - more time is spent in maximum effort. very little volume is performed, since there is no need for it. athletes on lower skill level will have to perform volume.

power is a very misused word around here and generally in training, power is needed for maximum effort lifts that take less than 3-4 seconds to complete. a deadlift will generally not be categorized as such an exercise, but a squat should be performed in such a manner. weightifting is a very powerful sport (if not the most powerful one), while ironically powerlifting is not. Powerlifters will still benefit from power phases

[xt1nkt]

It is because 5x5 programs have been the staple for gaining strength not gaining muscle.